Another Peek at the Willamette Falls Locks and the Hertzil Family History

18 January 2009
Remember my friend Larry, the Captain of the"Starship". He's the funny guy that found himself caught inside of his fold-a-boat. See archived story on October 2008. He is descended from some interesting people who lived and worked along the Willamette and Columbia River cities. I have asked him to add some stories that we might all enjoy, as we pass the cold winter months. He has come up with quite some interesting items which I will share with you.



The Willamette Falls Locks
Built in 1870 and opened 1 January 1873. It was 3 feet deep and the walls were made of quarried stone ranging from 5-15 feet high. To this day the walls have remained watertight. In 1916 the Locks were purchased by the Corps of Engineers and deepened to 6 feet.

In 1941 the original wooden lock doors were replaced with metal gates.

The Spruce Goose Goes through the Willamette Locks:

On 18 Dec 1992, the fuselage of the famous Spruce Goose, designed and built by Howard Hughes

headed upriver on a barge to enter the Willamette Locks. Prior to that the tail section had traversed the locks. The wings joined the other sections up river and moved overland to McMinnville, Or, where it is part of the Evergreen Air Venture Museum.

Preparing to enter with locks. Tugs assist with maneurving the barge which holds the fuselage.

Spruce Goose traversing the locks.

This is Larry's cousin, Rex Lapp who was Lock Master for many years until his retirement in 1995 or 96. He is now deceased but his wife forwarded brochures and information about the locks.

Larry writes,"Newberg is my Mom's old stomping grounds. It was also home to Pres. Herbert Hoover. After his parents died in Iowa, an uncle in Newberg adopted him. The house where Herbert grew up is still located there. Mom's grandfather was Telesphore Brouillette. Telesphore was the first Presbyterian minister in the area, married Ida Raymond. My Grandmother, Jessie, married J. Wesley Boyes. Local lore has it that his family engineered the Boysen Berry, for which there was a parade and city picnic every summer (Berrian Festival),since 1920. I remember what seemed like acres of berry pies on picnic tables, just waiting to be eaten. Grandma Jessie was poor in money, but rich in love and talent. She was the featured soprano soloist in the Newberg's annual Handel's "Messiah", year after year. Jessie was also a great orator. Whenever anyone or thing was to be dedicated or graduated, Jessie gave the speech. Newberg High School grads asked Jessie to give the graduation speech every year until she was no longer able to stand at the podium. Several times a year, Jessie gave the Gettysburg Address on Radio. I remember my grade school teachers stopping class to turn on the radio for her show and we lived miles away, in Vancouver, WA. Jessie was known mostly for caring for the town's less fortunate. She didn't have much to offer, but often brought the town's forgotten women home so they cold bathe, clean their clothes and have a hot meal. Jessie's small apartment was a day spa for the town's homeless."

"Summers in Newberg were wonderful, and the town remained a rural farming community until the '80's. My Uncle Tom's farm was always the site of our annual family picnic. Tons of "old people" brought wonderful food from all corners of county. There was a huge shade tree with a rope swing hanging down and oh yes...the barn. The barn was full of old tools that had no motors and it was haunted, for sure. Something lived in there that made strange noises, so none of us city kids ever went inside."

"My mother and her female cousins were all very adventuress. As teenagers, they all flew to Chicago and NYC, in the early thirties. After that, she married and had two daughters. Her husband, a successful CPA, soon contracted Leukemia and died. Mom went back to college at Newberg's Pacific College (now George Fox University) where she met my Dad. Two years later, they were married. Dad was the music professor. He directed the choral and instrumental ensembles. Dad was a also a violin soloist who had traveled the country and world playing concerts. Dad was then invited to direct the string program in the Vancouver, Washington, so in 1942, they moved from Newberg and bought one of two houses that were for sale in all of Vancouver."

In the 80-s, "I am heavy in to sailing and have first, a Cal-20 and then a Cal-27, moored on the Columbia River, at Kalama, WA." Larry explains how he gets his boat slip in Kalama,"I went exploring one day to see what slips were available and stopped in to the marina office in Kalama and introduced myself. Turns out the Port Manager I was talking to, was a cousin. He was the grandson of my Dad's Uncle from Rainier, Oregon...What waiting list???"

"I struck up a conversation with one of the local sailors and we exchanged names. He said his music professor in college was Mr. Hirtzel. I asked where he went to college and he said in Newberg, at Pacific College. I said, "That was my Dad". Turns out he and his wife were both in Dad's choir. I brought Dad to Kalama to visit with my sailing friends in their home. He brought a choir photo that had been hanging in his teaching studio for years. I always wondered who those folks were and now I knew two of them."

"By 2005 Dad has passed and so has my sailor friend in Kalama. The sailor's wife, is now living at the retirement village in Newberg, and invites me and my wife to lunch. She asks that I bring the choir photo with me. When we get to the retirement village, I am introduced to about 1/3 of the people who were in that photo. One of those people was my Dad's piano accompanist. She has many stories of long hours of rehearsal, working only on getting the endings to great works of music...perfect! At this point, she has been a professional pianist all her life and said she learned more about performing "Music", from Dad, than all of her university piano teachers put together. The funniest story she told was that she and Dad would be working for hours on a particularly difficult piece of music and she said; "Your future mother would walk by the practice room and your dad would ask me to take a break". She said, "I knew that meant we were done practicing for the day", and then she chuckled. The pianist was also my older sister's first piano teacher. I invited my sister to have lunch with us at a later date and so they were re-united. Turns out this pianist was Queen of May Day celebrations one year in Newberg, and my sister, four or five years old at the time, had carried her train for the crowning ceremonies. Sometimes, things have a way of coming full circle. It is so strange how I got my first slip in Kalama and then find out all the other Kalama connections took me back to Newberg."

"One thing I forgot to mention: I taught all the stringed instruments and some band classes in all of the schools in Newberg School District for three years after college. I loved every moment working with the kids. Also, it didn't take long to realize, that if I wanted to live the sailing life, it wasn't going to happen teaching in public schools. That's when I turned to teaching privately and performing music. I immediately quadrupled my income."

Larry is an accomplished musician and singer. Visit his website: http://www.wichitacountry.com/ to listen to his recordings, buy some of his cd's. He is a multi-talented guy. Larry, thank you so much for giving us all this information. I have enjoyed reading it, and putting it together for others to read. It is a wonderful way to honor your historic river family.

I give Credits:

1. Willamette Locks, Corps of Engineers Brochure

2. The Eugene Emerald Newspaper, 18 Dec 1992, Spruce Goose Takes To Water",by Bob Baum AP.
3. Larry Hitzel, emails.